'If we had rain, life would be so different': Death and displacement dominate as Somalia's drought worsens leaving millions to starve

“How can you provide a living for your children when you’ve lost your livelihood?” asks the mother of seven, Suad. She is among the hundreds of thousands of Somalians who have had to abandon their home as the country battles a crippling drought – the worst in at least 40 years.

Four consecutive rainy seasons have failed in the Horn of Africa, with a fifth expected on the way, causing a major hunger crisis spanning Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. 

"More than half a million people have now been forced to abandon their homes in Somalia in search of food and water"

But the level of need in Somalia is so great and underfunded that aid groups are dedicating what resources they have to avert a repeat of the 2011 famine that killed 260,000 people – half of them children under the age of six. 

Meteorologists have warned that the October-November monsoon could also fail, plunging the region into further turmoil.

More than half a million people have now been forced to abandon their homes in Somalia in search of food and water in the last four months, with mothers terrified they will also lose their children.  

Many told AFP that they had never endured a crisis of such terrifying magnitude, echoing the warnings of climate scientists who say the unprecedented drought is the worst seen in four decades. 

“The drought has brought despair. I don’t know what will become of us. I can’t feed my family, I feel helpless,” Suad continues.

Speaking to Save the Children, Suad explained that the previous drought in 2017 had devastated her livestock. At the time, she had 400 cows and goats and was left with just two, although she was able to recover some of them. Now, the drought has left her with almost nothing, and this time she fears she will not be able to salvage what remains of her pastoralist lifestyle.

The 55-year-old now lives in a camp in the Sanaag region, where she arrived four weeks ago with her seven children and disabled mother after the drought killed off her livestock.

"It’s a very difficult time, we’re all on the move in search of a better life,” she says. 

"The drought has brought despair. I don’t know what will become of us. I can’t feed my family, I feel helpless"

Sitting across the dejected mother is her 12-year-old daughter Samia, who adds, “If we had rain, life would be so different. I wouldn’t need to go out in search of water and I would have more time for my studies.”

On the brink of starvation 

Earlier this month, the United Nations warned of a race against time to prevent famine in Somalia, with more than 200,000 people on the brink of starvation amid the record-breaking drought. 

Some 7.1 million people – nearly half the population – were going hungry but the situation for 213,000 of the worst affected was catastrophic and urgent, a new assessment by UN agencies showed. 

Three million livestock had died because of the drought since the middle of 2021, placing a terrible toll on a largely pastoral country where families rely on their herds for meat, milk and trade.

"Malnutrition rates among children are on a steady rise and the UN has warned that as many as 350,000 children could die by the summer"

Food prices are also soaring, spurred by failed harvests locally and surging costs for imports caused in part by the war in Ukraine.

“We saw this coming. A two-year drought in Somalia and the Horn of Africa has decimated crops and livestock and eroded people’s ability to cope, with mothers having to make the difficult choice of putting their children to sleep hungry," explains Mohamud Mohamed, Save the Children’s Country Director in Somalia.  

"Malnutrition rates among children are on a steady rise and the UN has warned that as many as 350,000 children could die by the summer if we do not act and yet the window of opportunity to act and avert a catastrophe is shrinking with every passing day,” Mohamud added. 

Shehrazade Shams is a freelance writer based in London